Spescom: Managing diamonds

A long-standing relationship between Spescom and De Beers has resulted in the implementation of a document and configuration management solution - based on eB information management software - at the Cape Town headquarters of one of the companies in the multinational mining organisation.

Debmarine is one of the businesses under the De Beers umbrella, handling the marine diamond mining operations. Using high-tech systems run from mining ships, Debmarine recovers diamonds in coastal waters adjacent to the alluvial diamond areas off the South African and Namibian coasts.

An operation of this size and complexity generates a vast amount of documentation, all of which must be carefully tracked, archived and updated to support management decision-making.

Although the documents fall into diverse areas of the company's activities, it is essential that access is provided to latest versions of all the related documents on a given topic, even when they are generated from different sources within the organisation.

Debmarine runs extensive document databases to monitor its large investment in expensive mining equipment, as well as the complex company procedures involved in the process of diamond production - where there is obviously a need for the best possible security systems. Added to this structure is the large amount of research and development documentation that the company depends on to optimise its diamond recovery operations.

Kevin Richardson, development manager at Debmarine's Cape Town office, points out the advantages of the Spescom offering they are implementing: "Unlike some other products we considered, the Spescom solution provided both document and configuration management," he says. "An added plus was that, as a local product, the pricing made this cost-effective."

Any business requires document management but, in the case of Debmarine, configuration management abilities were needed to keep track of the large, complex projects the company runs. Such projects have many inter-related aspects which touch on process control, deployment of major capital assets, high-security documentation and the ongoing changes to the overall process often driven by new mining technology.

Siegmund Zerwick, business consultant at Spescom, points out the critical aspects of the solution provided: "The Debmarine implementation of products from the eB information management suite is a good example of modern business needs," he says. "The primary need is for information quality and then - once the integrity and security of that information is established - it still has to be presented in the right context. The user must be able to access all the relevant documents on a topic, even if they come from other departments.

"A key differentiator for the eB solution which we have provided is its extensive abilities to handle change management. Debmarine is an expanding and innovative company that often has to make decisions based on the consequences of changed mining technology or operating conditions.

"Following on Spescom's five-year relationship with De Beer's central research operation DebTech, we were able to offer a good understanding of Debmarine's business process and the important role that R&D information plays.

"Our first meetings took place in the last quarter of 2001 and the system deployment was effected within 30 days. Although the system is still being developed with the involvement of our consultants, the Debmarine eB solution demonstrates how a cost-effective offering can be rapidly deployed while still achieving all the levels of customisation and integration the client demands."